Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De stroomstoring in Amsterdam is na ongeveer anderhalf uur voorbij. Dat meldt een woordvoerder van Liander. Grote delen van Amsterdam zaten sinds ongeveer 16.00 uur zonder stroom.

De stroomstoring die woensdag kort na 16.00 uur begon in Amsterdam, treft daar 50.000 klanten. Dat zegt een woordvoerster van netbeheerder Liander.

Het gebied waar de stroom is uitgevallen omvat het centrum, stadsdeel West, het Westelijk Havengebied en een deel van stadsdeel Zuidoost.

De storing ontstond na een explosie in een elektriciteitsstation aan de Marnixstraat, waar op dat moment werkzaamheden waren. Volgens de woordvoerster van Liander is daarbij niemand gewond geraakt. De brandweer sprak eerder van kortsluiting.

CAÏRO (ANP/AFP) - Egypte meldt dat overeenstemming is bereikt over de leden van het vijftienkoppige Palestijnse technocratische comité dat de Gazastrook moet besturen. Dat moet dienen als overgangsautoriteit in het Palestijnse gebied, dat nu nog onder controle staat van Hamas.

"Wij hopen dat na deze overeenkomst het comité snel zal worden aangekondigd en naar de Gazastrook zal worden gestuurd om het dagelijks leven en de essentiële diensten te beheren", zei de Egyptische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Badr Abdelatty na afloop van besprekingen erover in Caïro. Hij maakte geen namen bekend.

Hamas zei eerder op de dag dat het met Egyptische bemiddelaars gesprekken was begonnen over het comité, dat deel uitmaakt van een Amerikaans plan voor het beëindigen van de oorlog in Gaza.

De beroemde chimpansee Ai, wereldwijd bekend om haar uitzonderlijke cognitieve vermogens, is op 49-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat maakten Japanse onderzoekers van Kyoto University bekend. Ai stierf vrijdag aan meervoudig orgaanfalen en ouderdomsklachten.

Ai, haar naam betekent liefde in het Japans, verwierf faam doordat ze meer dan honderd Chinese karakters kon herkennen, het Engelse alfabet beheerste en ook Arabische cijfers van nul tot negen en elf verschillende kleuren kon onderscheiden. In experimenten koppelde ze abstracte symbolen moeiteloos aan concrete objecten. Zo koos ze bij het Chinese teken voor roze consequent het juiste kleurvlak en kon ze met vormen op een computerscherm een virtuele appel samenstellen.

De chimpansee speelde een hoofdrol in baanbrekend onderzoek naar waarneming, leren en geheugen bij primaten. Haar prestaties leidden tot talloze wetenschappelijke publicaties en leverden haar in de media de status van genie op.

Ai arriveerde in 1977 vanuit West-Afrika in Japan. In 2000 kreeg ze een zoon, Ayumu, wiens opvallende vaardigheden nieuw licht wierpen op kennisoverdracht tussen ouder en kind bij chimpansees.

Volgens het onderzoekscentrum van de universiteit heeft Ai geholpen “een experimenteel raamwerk te creëren voor het begrijpen van het chimpanseebrein en daarmee een cruciale basis gelegd voor inzichten in de evolutie van het menselijk denken". Ai stond bekend als nieuwsgierig en betrokken. “Ze liet ons voor het eerst de vele facetten van de chimpanseegeest zien.”

Bron: Science Alert

STOCKHOLM (ANP/RTR) - Enkele officieren van het Zweedse leger zijn woensdag aangekomen in Groenland, meldt de Zweedse premier Ulf Kristersson op X. Zij zullen samen met Denemarken en een aantal andere bondgenoten de militaire aanwezigheid in en rond het eiland vergroten, na dreigementen van de Amerikanen om het eiland in te nemen.

Volgens Kristersson komen de Zweden op verzoek van Denemarken. Dat land, waar Groenland als semi-autonoom gebied onderdeel van is, kondigde woensdag al aan meer troepen naar het noordpoolgebied te sturen en zei ook dat er militairen uit meerdere NAVO-landen zouden aansluiten. Het land maakte niet bekend welke landen zouden meedoen.

Afgelopen zomer stuurden de Denen ook al in samenwerking met een aantal Europese landen meer militairen naar Groenland. Toen ging het om troepen uit Zweden, Noorwegen, Duitsland en Frankrijk.

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De ondernemingskamer beslist uiterlijk op 11 februari of er een onderzoek komt naar de gang van zaken bij de Nijmeegse chipmaker Nexperia. Als zo'n onderzoek er komt, blijven ook voorlopige ingrepen bij het bedrijf in stand.

De ondernemingskamer schorste in oktober topman Wing Zhang en zette zijn bedrijf Wingtech op afstand als aandeelhouder, om vermoedens van belangenverstrengeling en mismanagement. Die voorlopige maatregelen stoppen als er geen onderzoek komt.

De voorlopige ingrepen van de ondernemingskamer kwamen er kort nadat de Nederlandse regering Nexperia had verboden grote veranderingen door te voeren, met een beroep op een nooit eerder gebruikte noodwet. Het leidde tot een groot conflict tussen China en Nederland en een verstoring van de toevoer van chips uit China naar autofabrikanten. Het ministerie van Economische Zaken zei dat de ingreep nodig was om te voorkomen dat Wingtech kennis en middelen voor de chipproductie van Europa naar China zou verplaatsen.

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - Op de Dam in Amsterdam hebben enkele honderden mensen zich verzameld voor een solidariteitsmars voor Iraniërs onder de naam 'United voor freedom'. De betogers, met name Joden en Iraniërs, willen zich solidair tonen met het Iraanse volk en zich uitspreken tegen het islamitische regime. Vanaf de Dam lopen ze rond 17.00 uur naar het Amerikaanse consulaat op het Museumplein.

"Een mars voor mensenrechten, waardigheid en vrijheid - voor Iran, Israël en voor een wereld vrij van onderdrukking", is te lezen in een aankondiging van de mars.

Mensen op de Dam zwaaien met de oude Iraanse vlag, een groen-wit-rode vlag met in het midden een leeuw met zwaard die tot 1979 werd gebruikt. Ook zijn er enkele Israëlische vlaggen te zien. Actievoerders houden borden omhoog met teksten als 'Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran' en '12000+ shot dead, stop Khamenei's massacre!' en foto's van de voormalig kroonprins Reza Pahlavi.

Vlaggen

Deelnemers was vooraf gevraagd Israëlische vlaggen mee te nemen. Iraniërs en Israëliërs demonstreren soms samen omdat ze een gemeenschappelijke vijand zien in het Iraanse regime.

In Iran zijn massale demonstraties gaande tegen het streng-islamitische regime en de verslechterde economische omstandigheden. Tegen die protesten wordt met geweld opgetreden, waarbij tot nu toe naar schatting meer dan 2500 doden zijn gevallen.

Ook in Nederland zijn verschillende protesten tegen het regime in Iran, onder meer bij de Iraanse ambassade en op het Malieveld in Den Haag.

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De veiligheidsregio heeft een NL-Alert uitgegeven omdat de stroom in grote delen van Amsterdam is uitgevallen. Het is onbekend hoe lang dit gaat duren. "Gebruik geen lift en controleer of buren hulp nodig hebben", staat in de waarschuwing.

WASHINGTON (ANP/RTR) - Het Amerikaanse Hooggerechtshof heeft woensdag nog geen uitspraak gedaan in een zaak over de wettigheid van de wereldwijde importheffingen van president Donald Trump. Het hof maakte ook niet bekend wanneer er wel een uitspraak in de zaak komt.

Tijdens een zitting in november uitten zowel liberale als conservatieve rechters hun twijfels hierover en stelden ze kritische vragen aan de advocaat van de regering. De regering-Trump zou al aan alternatieven werken voor de heffingen in het geval ze onwettig verklaard zouden worden.

De zaak werd aangespannen door bedrijven die door de maatregelen zijn getroffen en twaalf Amerikaanse staten, waarvan de meeste Democratisch zijn. De uitkomst zal invloed hebben op de wereldeconomie. Eerder wees een hof van beroep de zogenoemde 'wederkerige' heffingen en extra tarieven tegen China, Canada en Mexico af. De rechter liet ze voorlopig wel van kracht.

In de negentiende en aan begin van de twintigste eeuw was die hét symbool van het badleven aan de Nederlandse kust: de badkoets. Een replica van het iconische object rijdt vanaf deze maand rond door Hoek van Holland. Museum Rotterdam nodigt mensen daarmee uit om hun herinneringen, verhalen, foto’s en objecten te delen van de rijke bad- en strandcultuur van de regio.

Na 29 jaar is een einde gekomen aan De Bloemenreus. Vanwege alsmaar stijgende kosten hebben eigenaresse Kim en haar vader Peter van der Toorn besloten om het faillissement aan te vragen. De bloemenwinkels in Oud-Beijerland en Middelharnis gingen twee weken geleden al op slot.

Today's links

• It's not normal: Remember when you owned stuff?
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• Object permanence: Telco rats out protesters; Rogers v Net Neutrality; Jailhouse lawyer v Stingrays; Black Panther self-care.
• Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
• Recent appearances: Where I've been.
• Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• Colophon: All the rest.

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It's not normal (permalink)

Samantha: This town has a weird smell that you're all probably used to…but I'm not.

Mrs Krabappel: It'll take you about six weeks, dear.

-The Simpsons, "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," S3E23, May 7, 1992

We are living through weird times, and they've persisted for so long that you probably don't even notice it. But these times are not normal.

Now, I realize that this covers a lot of ground, and without detracting from all the other ways in which the world is weird and bad, I want to focus on one specific and pervasive and awful way in which this world is not normal, in part because this abnormality has a defined cause, a precise start date, and an obvious, actionable remedy.

6 years, 5 months and 22 days after Fox aired "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," Bill Clinton signed a new bill into law: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA).

Under Section 1201 of the DMCA, it's a felony to modify your own property in ways that the manufacturer disapproves of, even if your modifications accomplish some totally innocuous, legal, and socially beneficial goal. Not a little felony, either: DMCA 1201 provides for a five year sentence and a $500,000 fine for a first offense.

Back when the DMCA was being debated, its proponents insisted that their critics were overreacting. They pointed to the legal barriers to invoking DMCA 1201, and insisted that these new restrictions would only apply to a few marginal products in narrow ways that the average person would never even notice.

But that was obvious nonsense, obvious even in 1998, and far more obvious today, more than a quarter-century on. In order for a manufacturer to criminalize modifications to your own property, they have to satisfy two criteria: first, they must sell you a device with a computer in it; and second, they must design that computer with an "access control" that you have to work around in order to make a modification.

For example, say your toaster requires that you scan your bread before it will toast it, to make sure that you're only using a special, expensive kind of bread that kicks back a royalty to the manufacturer. If the embedded computer that does the scanning ships from the factory with a program that is supposed to prevent you from turning off the scanning step, then it is a felony to modify your toaster to work with "unauthorized bread":

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

If this sounds outlandish, then a) You definitely didn't walk the floor at CES last week, where there were a zillion "cooking robots" that required proprietary feedstock; and b) You haven't really thought hard about your iPhone (which will not allow you to install software of your choosing):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

But back in 1998, computers – even the kind of low-powered computers that you'd embed in an appliance – were expensive and relatively rare. No longer! Today, manufacturers source powerful "System on a Chip" (SoC) processors at prices ranging from $0.25 to $8. These are full-fledged computers, easily capable of running an "access control" that satisfies DMCA 1201.

Likewise, in 1998, "access controls" (also called "DRM," "technical protection measures," etc) were a rarity in the field. That was because computer scientists broadly viewed these measures as useless. A determined adversary could always find a way around an access control, and they could package up that break as a software tool and costlessly, instantaneously distribute it over the internet to everyone in the world who wanted to do something that an access control impeded. Access controls were a stupid waste of engineering resources and a source of needless complexity and brittleness:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/01/10/lockdown-the-coming-war-on-general-purpose-computing/

But – as critics pointed out in 1998 – chips were obviously going to get much cheaper, and if the US Congress made it a felony to bypass an access control, then every kind of manufacturer would be tempted to add some cheap SoCs to their products so they could add access controls and thereby felonize any uses of their products that cut into their profits. Basically, the DMCA offered manufacturers a bargain: add a dollar or two to the bill of materials for your product, and in return, the US government will imprison any competitors who offer your customers a "complementary good" that improves on it.

It's even worse than this: another thing that was obvious in 1998 was that once a manufacturer added a chip to a device, they would probably also figure out a way to connect it to the internet. Once that device is connected to the internet, the manufacturer can push software updates to it at will, which will be installed without user intervention. What's more, by using an access control in connection with that over-the-air update mechanism, the manufacturer can make it a felony to block its updates.

Which means that a manufacturer can sell you a device and then mandatorily update it at a later date to take away its functionality, and then sell that functionality back to you as a "subscription":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/28/fade-to-black/#trust-the-process

A thing that keeps happening:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/20/24202166/snoo-premium-subscription-happiest-baby

And happening:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

And happening:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/24/record-scratch/#autoenshittification

In fact, it happens so often I've coined a term for it, "The Darth Vader MBA" (as in, "I'm altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further"):

https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/01/fulu/#i-am-altering-the-deal

Here's what this all means: any manufacturer who devotes a small amount of engineering work and incurs a small hardware expense can extinguish private property rights altogether.

What do I mean by private property? Well, we can look to Blackstone's 1753 treatise:

The right of property; or that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe.

You can't own your iPhone. If you take your iPhone to Apple and they tell you that it is beyond repair, you have to throw it away. If the repair your phone needs involves "parts pairing" (where a new part won't be recognized until an Apple technician "initializes" it through a DMCA-protected access control), then it's a felony to get that phone fixed somewhere else. If Apple tells you your phone is no longer supported because they've updated their OS, then it's a felony to wipe the phone and put a different OS on it (because installing a new OS involves bypassing an "access control" in the phone's bootloader). If Apple tells you that you can't have a piece of software – like ICE Block, an app that warns you if there are nearby ICE killers who might shoot you in the head through your windshield, which Apple has barred from its App Store on the grounds that ICE is a "protected class" – then you can't install it, because installing software that isn't delivered via the App Store involves bypassing an "access control" that checks software to ensure that it's authorized (just like the toaster with its unauthorized bread).

It's not just iPhones: versions of this play out in your medical implants (hearing aid, insulin pump, etc); appliances (stoves, fridges, washing machines); cars and ebikes; set-top boxes and game consoles; ebooks and streaming videos; small appliances (toothbrushes, TVs, speakers), and more.

Increasingly, things that you actually own are the exception, not the rule.

And this is not normal. The end of ownership represents an overturn of a foundation of modern civilization. The fact that the only "people" who can truly own something are the transhuman, immortal colony organisms we call "Limited Liability Corporations" is an absolutely surreal reversal of the normal order of things.

It's a reversal with deep implications: for one thing, it means that you can't protect yourself from raids on your private data or ready cash by adding privacy blockers to your device, which would make it impossible for airlines or ecommerce sites to guess about how rich/desperate you are before quoting you a "personalized price":

https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/11/nothing-personal/#instacartography

It also means you can't stop your device from leaking information about your movements, or even your conversations – Microsoft has announced that it will gather all of your private communications and ship them to its servers for use by "agentic AI":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANECpNdt-4

Microsoft has also confirmed that it provides US authorities with warrantless, secret access to your data:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2025/07/22/microsoft-cant-keep-eu-data-safe-from-us-authorities/

This is deeply abnormal. Sure, greedy corporate control freaks weren't invented in the 21st century, but the laws that let those sociopaths put you in prison for failing to arrange your affairs to their benefit – and your own detriment – are.

But because computers got faster and cheaper over decades, the end of ownership has had an incremental rollout, and we've barely noticed that it's happened. Sure, we get irritated when our garage-door opener suddenly requires us to look at seven ads every time we use the app that makes it open or close:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

But societally, we haven't connected that incident to this wider phenomenon. It stinks here, but we're all used to it.

It's not normal to buy a book and then not be able to lend it, sell it, or give it away. Lending, selling and giving away books is older than copyright. It's older than publishing. It's older than printing. It's older than paper. It is fucking weird (and also terrible) (obviously) that there's a new kind of very popular book that you can go to prison for lending, selling or giving away.

We're just a few cycles away from a pair of shoes that can figure out which shoelaces you're using, or a dishwasher that can block you from using third-party dishes:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/if-dishwashers-were-iphones

It's not normal, and it has profound implications for our security, our privacy, and our society. It makes us easy pickings for corporate vampires who drain our wallets through the gadgets and tools we rely on. It makes us easy pickings for fascists and authoritarians who ally themselves with corporate vampires by promising them tax breaks in exchange for collusion in the destruction of a free society.

I know that these problems are more important than whether or not we think this is normal. But still. It. Is. Just. Not. Normal.

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Hey look at this (permalink)

• Two underdog trustbusters running for Congress https://the-antimonopolist.ghost.io/two-utrustbusters-running-for-congress/

• The Conscience of a Hacker https://phrack.org/issues/7/3

• Dingbat Imperialism, the Lowest Stage of Capitalism https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/dingbat-imperialism-the-lowest-stage

• Trump Killed the CFPB's "Open Banking" Rule. Now Big Banks Are Crushing Your Favorite Finance App. https://economicpopulist.substack.com/p/trump-killed-the-cfpbs-open-banking

• Elizabeth Warren’s Plan for a Revived Democratic Party https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/elizabeth-warren-democrats-2026-midterms/

---

Object permanence (permalink)

#15yrsago Belarusian mobile operators gave police list of demonstrators https://charter97.org/en/news/2011/1/12/35161/

#15yrsago Threatened library gets its patrons to clear the shelves https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/14/stony-stratford-library-shelves-protest

#15yrsago Canadian regulator smacks Rogers for Net Neutrality failures https://web.archive.org/web/20110116044741/https://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5574/125/

#10yrsago A day in the life of a public service serial killer’s intern https://web.archive.org/web/20160116122141/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-killing-jar

#10yrsago How an obsessive jailhouse lawyer revealed the existence of Stingray surveillance devices https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/13/10758380/stingray-surveillance-device-daniel-rigmaiden-case

#10yrsago The Internet of Things in Your Butt: smart rectal thermometer https://web.archive.org/web/20160116182024/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/this-rectal-thermometer-is-the-logical-conclusion-of-the-internet-of-things

#10yrsago UK Home Secretary auditions for a Python sketch: “UK does not undertake mass surveillance” https://web.archive.org/web/20160114224805/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-uk-does-not-undertake-mass-surveillance-says-uk-home-secretary

#10yrsago US Treasury Dept wants to know which offshore crimelords are buying all those NYC and Miami penthouses https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0113/Are-luxury-condo-purchases-hiding-dirty-money

#5yrsag Facebook shows mall ninja gear ads on insurrection articles https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/14/10-point-program/#monetizing

#5yrsago The Black Panther self-care method https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/14/10-point-program/#panthers

---

Upcoming appearances (permalink)

• Denver: Enshittification at Tattered Cover Colfax, Jan 22
  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-live-at-tattered-cover-colfax-tickets-1976644174937

• Colorado Springs: Guest of Honor at COSine, Jan 23-25
  https://www.firstfridayfandom.org/cosine/

• Ottawa: Enshittification at Perfect Books, Jan 28
  https://www.instagram.com/p/DS2nGiHiNUh/

• Toronto: Enshittification and the Age of Extraction with Tim Wu, Jan 30
  https://nowtoronto.com/event/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction/

• Victoria: 28th Annual Victoria International Privacy & Security Summit, Mar 3-5
  https://www.rebootcommunications.com/event/vipss2026/

• Berlin: Re:publical, May 18-20
  https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow

• Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25
  https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2

---

Recent appearances (permalink)

• Enshittification (Creative Nonfiction podcast)
  https://brendanomeara.com/episode-507-enshittification-author-cory-doctorow-believes-in-a-new-good-internet/

• A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet (39c3)
  https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-a-post-american-enshittification-resistant-internet

• Enshittification with Plutopia
  https://plutopia.io/cory-doctorow-enshittification/

• "can't make Big Tech better; make them less powerful" (Get Subversive)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1EzM9_6eLE

• The Enshitification Life Cycle with David Dayen (Organized Money)
  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2412334/episodes/18399894

---

Latest books (permalink)

• "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025

• "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025
  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

• "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels).

• "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org).

• "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org).

• "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).

• "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com.

• "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com

---

Upcoming books (permalink)

• "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2026

• "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026

• "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2026

• "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026

---

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1001 words today, 6053 total)

• "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE.

• "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING.

• A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

---

This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

---

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ISSN: 3066-764X

After spending years pushing digital payments to combat tax evasion and money laundering, European Union ministers decided in December to ban businesses from refusing cash. The reversal comes as 12% of European businesses flatly refused cash in 2024, up from 4% three years earlier.

Over one in three cinemas in the Netherlands no longer accept notes and coins. Cash usage across the euro area dropped from 79% of in-person transactions in 2016 to just 52% in 2024. Sweden leads the digital shift where 90% of purchases now happen digitally and cash represents under 1% of GDP compared to 22% in Japan.

The policy change stems from concerns about financial inclusion for elderly and poor populations who struggle with digital systems. Resilience worries also drove the decision after Spaniards facing nationwide power cuts last spring found themselves unable to buy food. European officials worry about dependence on American payment giants Visa and MasterCard. The EU now recommends citizens store enough cash to survive a week without electricity or internet access.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Polish authorities said the country came “very close to a blackout” before the cyberattack was thwarted late last month.

Authorities did not explain why they reversed last year’s cuts, instead framing the increases in patriotic terms and emphasizing state support for servicemen.

Met de lening van de EU moet Oekraïne vooral Europese wapens kopen, stelt de Europese Commissie voor. Voor aankopen in bijvoorbeeld de Verenigde Staten is toestemming uit Brussel vereist.

Politieke beïnvloeding via het buitenland, online haatcampagnes en AI-filmpjes met nepbeelden. Ze ondermijnen de democratie, schrijven onderzoekers in een rapport over de vorige verkiezingen. „Het toezicht vanuit de overheid moet veel strenger worden.”

Currently listening to this Thai house mix from Meltmode, played from a tuktuk tooling around the streets of Bangkok.